


Crossed Blades

by BlackBirdAolen



Category: Castlevania 白夜の協奏曲 | Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Genre: Banter, Blades, Friendship, M/M, Sword Training, Training, Training Fight, Training Room, duel, fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-03-01 01:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2754434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBirdAolen/pseuds/BlackBirdAolen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Juste and Maxim have a go at sword practice - and still find time for some banter in between.</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="http://ask.fm/BlackBirdAolen">Got a fanfic idea for me?</a><br/><a href="http://cheroshseiphar.deviantart.com/">My deviantART - full of original fiction.</a><br/><a href="http://blackbirdaolen.tumblr.com/">Snippets and ramblings on my tumblr.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Crossed Blades

"Are you ready for the more serious training, Juste?" Maxim grinned and stood at the end of the training hall, sharpening his sword with slow, measured movements. "Fooling around with magic all the time isn't all that funny after all."

"It can hardly be called fooling around if it is enough to incinerate the hordes of Dracula's monsters," Juste retorted with a snort. "I don't happen to hear a bit of jealousy coming from you, do I, Maxim?"

Their glares crossed, and for a moment, Maxim snickered. They were bantering like this for pretty much all the time when they were discussing something, and it never happened in bad spirits. No, it was all just good humor between the two of them. Juste appreciated it, since it helped him forget about the upcoming battles. It was important to relax and unwind. Even if it happened with a swordfight with his old childhood friend.

"Well, I hope you won't use your magic against me, Juste." Maxim shook his head lightly. "I would be quite offended, you know. You have your magic and rather considerable skill with the blade, and I only have my blade. To fight against someone well-versed in both aspects would be hard for me to pull off."

"You flatter me." Juste rather enjoyed the compliments, but he needed to remain calm and focused. If Maxim managed to wrap him up in too much praise, the winner of the fight would be obvious long before anything would start. "I hope you're not afraid of taking a good beating."

"Oh, I'm quivering." Maxim laughed, raising his blade and assuming his stance. Juste knew that he wouldn't get far with just words. He would have to let his blade speak. Maxim's blade was fast to pick up the conversation and turn it around in its favor, so he would have to be especially quick on his feet and with his thoughts. Yet Juste knew that, should he get ahead of himself, he would be in deep trouble.

They at first very slowly paced around one another, like two prowling cats on the hunt. Juste took his steps with care, but not too much of it. If he already was hesitant to begin the fight, he would have no chance once it really would be heated and fully on. Even though they should have used training blades, Maxim had convinced him to use the real ones. It would be quite dangerous to toy around for too long. One wrong move, and it might as well end bad for one of them. This fight would be as much about skill as it would be about respect and care.

Maxim was the first to attack, forcing Juste to quickly take on a more defending stance and look out for Maxim's pattern of attacks. They were moving across the room rather generously – after all, the training room hadn't been built as big as it was for nothing. The exact reason was this drawn-out swordfight between two combatants. They would be at a decision at some point for sure, but as of the moment, there was nothing hinting at either of them being the defeated any time soon.

Juste had to admit to himself that Maxim definitely was the more skilled of them. He, as a Belmont, had gone through rigorous training, of course, but that didn't mean he was up to par with Maxim's skills. It rather meant that he had a reasonable chance to fight Maxim for longer than just a couple of minutes. It wasn't much, but it was something, which was nice enough.

"You have improved since the last time." Maxim smiled lightly, while they were going back and forth between quick attacks and parades. "How come that you never really showed what you could do in the first place?"

"If you think I ever held back, then I'm not sure if I should feel offended or flattered." Juste grunted and managed to push Maxim back a little, but it was tough going. "You could be a little more gentle with me, you know!"

Maxim laughed, switching hands just to go on with the fight with his left hand. Juste was completely astonished that the other male was so dexterous, he quickly was pushed into a compromising position. "Alright, you win this round... But I want to have another go at it!"

 


End file.
